A/N: So, I saw Sharon Small in Life Is A Dream at the Donmar Warehouse on Thursday {she was completely brilliant, just for the record}, got home and stayed up 'till 1am writing this. Please R&R :)

Lynley & Havers go horse riding in Cornwall.

Set: Post series.

Spoilers: None

Disclaimer: I don't own them. The evil BBC does :P {disclaimer of disclaimer: I'm not saying anything defamatory about the Beeb. Don't sue me!}

Wishes & Horses

By Tricki

The way she sits on his sister's horse he thinks he doesn't need to tell her anything – her heels are down, she's working through her calves, sitting up tall, her hands in the right spot and her reins the right length; most impressively she's actually using her seat. He's completely taken aback.

She nudges the horse straight into a trot before he can even pass her a helmet. She sits to the trot rather than rises, but somehow he just instinctively knows that it's not because she doesn't know to rise, it's because she's decided she'd rather do sitting trot.

Her seat is unshakable.

She moves perfectly with the horse, rather than just bouncing on its back. She's completely fluid.

"Keep up, old man." She calls over her shoulder laughingly. Her hair blows about her face as she looks over her shoulder at him. Jindabyrne, or Jin as his sister's horse is affectionately known, seems to have taken an automatic liking to her, which doesn't usually happen. She actually looks as if she's enjoying herself as much as her rider is.

He doesn't need to be told twice. In one catlike movement he slides one foot into a stirrup and throws his other leg over his own horse, Ebony's saddle and follows after her. He starts at a walk, but nudges the stallion into a lengthened trot when he notices how far ahead of him she actually is. Jin's trot is free and loose, not the sort and sharp strides she would take with someone she didn't like, or she would usually take with someone who had as little experience as the woman on her back. He is honestly in some degree of awe.

Just when she feels him closing in on her, she brings Jin to a sudden halt, but not, to his surprise, with her reins, but her seat. She has amazing instincts for riding.

He spins Ebony around in what is essentially a half pirouette and faces her.

"Are you trying to kill me?" He asks playfully.

"No, I just thought you could use a bit of a hand catching up." She's mischievous and beautiful, and if they were on the ground he'd kiss her right this second. Before he can say another word, she nudges Jin back into a walk. It's an efficient, swinging walk, and by the time he has his head around what's going on, and swings Ebony around to follow, he's already fallen behind again. He pushes Ebony into a slow, quiet trot and is careful not to spook either her or her horse. She may look confident, he reminds himself, but by all accounts, this is her first time on a horse.

When he gets level with her, she nudges Jin into their earlier trot; he manages to keep pace. She lifts one hand and scratches the chestnut's neck affectionately. He smiles at the sight, and doesn't even attempt to keep up when she pushes Jin into a long-strided canter.

She laughs joyfully. The sound floats back to him and warms his heart. He watches her with unparalleled love and is suddenly caught by the realisation that she's cantered away from him on her first ride. Horror strikes him and he kicks Ebony into a canter so fast it's nearly a gallop in order to catch her.

He finds her halted by a tree on the border of the paddock and the woods, waiting for him. He's breathing heavily by the time he gets to her and pulls Ebony up – Ebony, on the other hand, is blowing hard excitedly. He wants to keep going.

"You scared me half to death!" He says. She knows he isn't really chiding her – then again, he's too puffed to seem really angry, even if he were. "Are you sure you haven't done this before?" It's meant to be a joke, a compliment, but she takes it seriously.

"Well, when we went on holidays we used to do Donkey Derbies. Does that count? The woman who owned them said I had a bit of a knack." Her green eyes are unwaveringly holding his gaze, but there's something childlike in them. Something that he at the very least hasn't seen today.

"Huh." He answers. He's still catching his breath, more from sheer terror of thinking that she'd fall off and break herself and he'd lose her, just like he always loses everyone, rather than from the actual exertion. Lord knew Ebony had done ninety eight per cent of the work. She breaks his gaze to right Jin's mane, which has flopped about on both sides of her neck from the speed and the wind. She tenderly flips it back on to the right side of her neck and smooths it down.

He loves this woman. He loves her so much the thought sometimes panics him; seeing her like this is so new to him. She's so in her element when she really shouldn't be. It's now, as she offers him a playful "Shall we?" and nudges Jin into an easy walk, that he realises she has a genuine talent for this. Jin and Ebony walk side by side, the couple sits silent because he's too busy marvelling at her. She's a natural. She's never been on a horse before and she's already bloody cantered on his sister's moody chestnut mare – without a helmet – without even almost falling off. She's glued to the saddle - she's so good he's even considering taking her over some of the fallen trees he and his family use as jumps - and she's never been on a horse before.

He watches her, deep in thought. His beautiful partner. He sees her as his equal in every way, but it is here their inequality stands out to him. He had his first pony at three, his first horse at eleven, and has really been around and on them since he could walk; yet she has never had the chance to be near them and she's matching his riding ability easily. He wonders what she could have done with his opportunities. She's clearly talented – if she'd been riding as long as him she probably could be competing at the Olympics. She certainly could be a mounted officer – even though it can be a horrific job.

'How many other untapped potentials must she have?' He wonders silently.

He wishes there were some way to go back in time and fix this blatant wrong – that someone so talented could wait thirty years of their life to find out they were so talented. He wishes he could try and change things now – wishes he had the courage to ask her if she even wants the chance to compete at the Olympics or become a mounted officer or just... have had it as a part of her life the way he and his siblings have.

He wonders if some part of her still resents him for his privileged life, but looking at her, happily keeping herself entertained by unnecessarily weaving through trees, he doesn't think so.

"Havers?" He calls out to her. He doesn't know how he's fallen behind yet again. Ebony is generally the fastest horse on the estate and all they've been doing is walking.

"Hmm?" She replies, not looking back, just getting further ahead. She's only holding the reins with one hand now, and the other is resting on Jin's rump. Could she be any more relaxed? "What is currently concerning you, Lord Asherton?" She teases grandly in her best 'let's take the piss out of the posh' accent.

He looks – really looks – at his partner on his sister's horse. She's beautiful, and free, and just so bloody good that he doesn't even think it's appropriate to try and move Ebony closer and steal a kiss from her, tell her he loves her.

Maybe nothing more needs to come of this. Maybe he just needs to let her be. Let her alone. Let her ride, and not think about anything other than whatever she's already thinking about.

"Nothing." He decides. "Absolutely nothing."